Blossoming Friendship
by malic124
Summary: So, with the show introducing Noah, I decided to implement him into my stories. However, Jonnor is still a thing in my Fosters world, so he's going to be in these stories as a love interest for someone else. Who will it be? Takes place before Hostile Negotiation and Decaying Morality.


John looked up from the newspaper he was reading as he phone started ringing. He picked it up and answered it.

"Hello?" he said.

"John, it's Olivia," replied Olivia Benson.

"Liv, hi," John said. "Everything OK? We still on for tomorrow?"

"Uh, maybe," Olivia replied, hesitating. "Our video editor had a family emergency. His wife went into labor and he won't be available for a few days."

John chuckled. "Great timing."

"You're telling me. I just found out myself when I got here a little while ago. We can wait a few days, but that means we have to reschedule the video shoot and tell everyone about it."

"Is there any way we can still do the shoot tomorrow and just edit it later?" John asked.

"We could, but I'd prefer us to get the video edited as soon as possible," Olivia replied. "I guess one way we could for sure get it done is to get a replacement editor. You wouldn't happen to know anyone, would you?"

"Not to my knowledge," John replied as Jude walked into the kitchen and poured himself a mug of tea. "I'll ask around and see if I find anyone. I'll let you know."

"Thanks, John," Olivia said. "Just give me a call as soon as you can."

"Sure thing, Olivia. See you soon."

John hung his phone up and looked up at Jude.

"Everything OK?" Jude asked.

"Our video editor for the No More shoot had to back out at the last minute. Olivia says she would rather have a video editor there so we can start putting together the video as quickly as possible after the shoot," John explained "You wouldn't happen to know anyone who knows video editing, do you?"

"Couldn't you do it?" asked Jude. "I mean, you shot that video for Connor's birthday."

"True, but I doubt I'd be able to do it to the level that Olivia wants it to be."

Jude nodded. "Let me ask Taylor if her friend Noah could do it. She told me that he knows video editing and does it all the time for his church."

"If we can get him, he would be a lifesaver," John replied.

* * *

"Thank you so much for getting someone, John," Olivia said as the crew prepared for the shoot. "Will he be here soon?"

"I think so," John replied. "So how does this shoot work?"

"We all have a list of statements to read in front of the camera that are excuses used in real life to justify these horrible crimes," Olivia explained. "Each person says a few of the phrases and we end it with the message of 'No More' to these excuses."

"Sounds good," John said. "Are we choosing who does what, or are we letting each person pick."

"Either or," Olivia replied. "I have a list here for you if you'd like to look at it," she added, handing John a slip of paper. John glanced over it before looking back up at her and nodding. "Great."

"John!" Jude yelled from behind them. He was walking toward them with Taylor and a boy who John assumed was Noah.

"You must be Noah," John said when they reached he and Olivia.

"I am," Noah replied, shaking John's hand. "It's great to finally meet you. I've heard so many things about you from Taylor."

"Nothing too bad, I hope," John said, causing everyone to laugh. "My apologies," he added, gesturing to Olivia. "This is Lieutenant Olivia Benson from Manhattan's Special Victims Unit in New York."

"Thank you so much for coming," Olivia said, shaking Noah's hand. "It means a lot to us."

"I'm happy to do it," Noah replied. "So, how does this work?"

"We all get in front of the camera and we say our bit," John explained.

"And when everything is said and done, we'll just need you to package it all together for us with a series of clips," added Olivia. "We have a few lists that we would like you to edit together for us, if that works for you."

"Sounds good. Would you mind if I watched while you all film?"

"Not at all," Olivia replied. "You can wait with John until they're ready for him. He's our first person who's filming."

John walked with Noah, Jude and Taylor over to the side of the video shoot. The video was being shot in front of a white background to keep things simplistic.

"I really appreciate this, Noah," John said. "Thank you so much for coming."

"Don't worry about," Noah replied, smiling. "I was happy to help. Besides, from what Taylor told me about you, I think we'll be great friends."

"I'd like that," John replied before turning as a crew member called his name and gestured him toward the camera.

John followed his instructions and waited in front of the background while the camera was set up for the shoot. He took a sip from a water bottle he had been offered before he set it down and took several deep breaths.

"We're ready, John," Olivia said from behind the camera. "And remember, our goal for this is to be as raw as possible, so if you get emotional, don't worry about it, but if you need a minute, no worries."

"Thanks, Liv," John replied taking another deep breath.

"Whenever you're ready, John."

John stared into the camera, hesitating for a few seconds. He took another breath before he spoke. "No more, that doesn't happen to boys," he said, as his voice started to break when he finished the sentence. He started to tear up when he went quiet and took several breaths.

"Do you need a minute, John?" Olivia asked.

"Please," John replied, stepping away from the camera. Olivia walked over to him.

"You OK?" she asked, putting an arm on his shoulder.

"I'll be fine, I just need a minute."

"OK," Olivia replied, patting him on the shoulder before walking back over to the camera.

While John stood taking deep breaths, Noah walked over to him.

"You OK?" he asked, sounding concerned. John nodded. "Jude told me a little bit about what happened with that man. Are you having flashbacks?"

John nodded again, sighing. "It's been more than two years since it happened, but when I said those words, it was like he was back in the room with me."

Noah put an arm around John. "It's all right," Noah said. "It's perfectly understandable to feel that way. Something like that has never happened to me, so I can only imagine what you're going through, but I wanted you to know that we're all here for you, OK?"

"I know," John said, nodding again and wiping a tear away. "I'll be OK. I'm ready to finish."

"Good man," Noah replied, patting John on the back.

John returned to the camera and stood in front of it. "Shall we?" he asked.

"Whenever you're ready, John," said Olivia.

John cleared his throat, taking one last sigh before he spoke again. "No more that doesn't happen to boys," he said, taking a brief pause between each phrase now that he was prepared to say them all. "No more she should've been more careful… No more boys will be boys… No more bystanding… No more ignorance… No more."

Once John stopped speaking, the room went silent as the effect of his words traveled through it. Suddenly, Olivia started clapping, along with some of the crew and the other speakers who had arrived. Jude, Taylor and Noah cheered the loudest for him. John smiled and walked over to Olivia and hugged her.

"Thank you, John," Olivia said. "That was such a brave thing to do and you were wonderful."

"I was happy to do it," John replied. "I'll stick around for a little bit and see the others do their part. Plus, I want to see how the first one comes out."

John walked over to Jude, Taylor and Noah and pulled Jude into a hug.

"That was great," Jude said. "You feeling better now?"

John nodded as they broke apart. "I am, and it's thanks to our friend here," John said, nodding at Noah, who smiled at him.

"You were fantastic," said Noah. "I'm gonna throw a little montage of your speech together for the promotion. One of the crew guys is gonna show me what to do."

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, Noah called John over to the computer he had been working on. John walked over and stood with Jude and Taylor to watch the video. It began with John taking deep breaths before he said, "No more…that doesn't happen to boys," as his voice started to break. It was followed by a dissolve into a blank screen with the words "Domestic violence and sexual assault are hard subjects for everyone to talk about." The video cut back to John standing in front of the camera with tears in his eyes before Olivia asked if he needed a minute and him saying he did. The video then cut to the blank screen again with the words "Help us start the conversation," followed by the logos of No More and the Joyful Heart Foundation.

Noah stopped the video and looked up at John with a smile. John smiled back at him and put his hands on Noah's shoulders.

"It's wonderful," he whispered. "Thank you."

"No problem," Noah replied, patting one of John's hands. "I'll export this one to make sure it's one of the videos that gets used."

* * *

Later that night, John and Noah sat together at a restaurant — a thank you from John to Noah for agreeing to edit all of the video for the campaign.

"So, Taylor tells me she met you at church?" John asked, taking a sip of his tea.

"Yeah, my Mom is the pastor there," Noah explained. "Church has always been a big part of my life from day one. How about you?"

John chuckled. "I'm not much of a church person," he said. "Not that I think there's anything wrong with it. Just not my cup of tea," he added, raising his glass of tea and chuckling with Noah.

"And Jude told me that you're an author?"

"I am," John replied. "I published my book several months ago. It's a story about what I went through as a survivor."

"Good for you," Noah said, smiling at John.

* * *

After dinner, John and Noah stood outside the diner together, enjoying the cool breeze of the night.

"And just for the record, I haven't worked that well with someone or gotten along with someone so quickly in a long time," John said.

Noah chuckled. "Neither have I," he replied. "It's been great getting to know you."

"Likewise."

A silence ripped through the air as the boys looked each other in the eyes. Noah then leaned forward and kissed John, who pulled back in surprise.

"I'm sorry," Noah said, looking ashamed of himself. To his surprise, he saw that John was smiling.

"It's OK, Noah," John said.

Noah breathed a sigh of relief. "Really?" he asked. John smiled and kissed Noah back. When they broke apart, Noah stared at John in awe.

"It's about time I've found someone who I can trust enough to do this," John said.

"I'm honored," Noah replied, smiling again.

"So am I," said John. "I think we're going to be good for each other." He then offered his hand to Noah. Noah grabbed John's hand and they left from the diner, hand-in-hand.


End file.
